As travel slowly opens up and more countries ease movement restrictions, Etihad Airways has introduced a new interactive map to help advise travellers who are considering booking a flight. Designed to help people keep up to date with endless travel updates, the interactive map details what restrictions are in place and where. It’s available for anyone to use on Etihad’s website and is updated continuously to ensure information is as accurate as possible. Clicking on a country brings up detailed information about the destination during the pandemic. This includes policies on entry restrictions, airport and transport information, social distancing rules and information on what tourism activities are currently allowed. Each country also has a Covid-19 assessment gauge, with an arrow that rises or falls to reflect the current coronavirus situation in a particular destination. This follows a traffic light colour system, with red representing countries with high rates of infection and green for destinations where the pandemic seems to be under control. It also lists the number of current active cases per 100,000 of each country's population. Where there is a lack of information available, the map warns users that a destination is "showing irregular reporting". The map is powered by Sitata, a Canadian travel risk management company that specialises in using computer algorithms to detect travel disruption around the world. “Since the beginning of the outbreak, our customer support lines have been inundated with questions from travellers asking if they should travel or not and what their risk might be,” said Sitata on its website. "We realised that, despite all of our collective efforts, some individuals are still going to travel if they can, and so we assembled this tool to try to highlight the associated risks and keep people informed as best we can." The map is continuously updated using data from the World Health Organisation, Johns Hopkins CSSE, ProMed, government public health departments and local news sources, however accuracy cannot be fully guaranteed. Etihad advises travellers to check rules and regulations issued by countries around the world. "It’s really important that you read these guidelines before you travel, and follow them at all times," explains the airline on its website. "If you’re flying with any of our codeshare partner airlines, always check their regulations before you fly," concludes the advice. The map is the latest tool introduced by the Abu Dhabi airline to assist people considering travel. It previously introduced an AI-powered self assessment tool to help passengers determine their probability of having contracted coronavirus. Etihad has also implemented upgraded hygiene and safety standards on all flights, including introducing Wellness Ambassadors on flights as a first point of contact for travellers flying during the pandemic.
